Read the Daily Record’s feature story on the Wood Brothers and their performance at MPAC Tuesday, November 6!
Daily Record: “Wood Brothers Branch Out”
By Bill Nutt
The history of rock music is littered with brothers who had a (to put it mildly) contentious relationship: Phil and Don Everly, the Kinks’ Ray and Dave Davies, and Oasis’ Noel and Liam Gallagher, to name three.
Chris and Oliver Wood do not have that kind of volatile sibling feud, despite the fact that they have been recording as the Wood Brothers for more than a decade.
Guitarist Chris Wood has a theory about that. He noted that most of those other acts started when the lads were in their teens (or even earlier), whereas he and his bass-playing brother Oliver were in their 30s when they started performing together.
In fact, Chris Wood had already a career as one-third of Medeski Martin & Wood, an eclectic jazz-influenced group he formed with John Medeski and Billy Martin in 1991. Oliver Wood, for his part, founded the funk/R&B-oriented group King Johnson.
“It was important for us to go our separate ways,” said Chris Wood. “We were able to pursue what we wanted to pursue, get a little seasoned. We came at this in middle age, with an attitude of humility and respect.”
Furthermore, the Wood Brothers (which also includes multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix) were able to draw on Oliver’s and Chris’ experiences to create music that combines folk, rock, jazz, funk, and world music to create a distinctive sound.
“We tried to imagine what if Robert Johnson and Charlie Parker had formed a band with John Prine as the songwriter, the bassist from Bootsy Collins, and the drummer of Fela,” said Chris Wood, rattling off a list of musicians from various genres.
All those influences will be on display when the Wood Brothers play the Count Basie Theatre on Tuesday, October 30, and the Mayo Performing Arts Center the following Tuesday, November 6.
The trio will perform songs from their studio albums, including the most recent, “One Drop of Truth,” which was released in February.
The new record reflects the Wood Brothers’ open-minded approach to music, Chris Wood said. “We make our records independently. We produce them. There’s no record company looking over our shoulders.
Wood added that the songs on “One Drop of Truth” were written and recorded over a period of time. “On a lot of records, the songs are all written in advance, and then the musicians go into the studio and have to cut everything in two weeks,” he said.
“This time, we harkened back to our heroes, like Ray Charles, who would write and record songs as they came up with them,” Wood continued. “If we came up with a tune, we’d go in (the studio) and record it. It didn’t matter if it felt finished or not.”
This process allowed the musicians to revisit songs and perhaps experiment more than if they had a recording deadline. “We could have fun with the arrangements,” Wood said. “Sometimes we would change the song, but sometimes we didn’t.”
Woods used the example of “Laughin’ or Crying” from the new CD. “We made our first attempt, then went back and realized we had something special,” Wood said. “It was imperfect, but it was imperfect in the right way.”
The freewheeling approach is one reason why Chris Wood shuttles between working with the Wood Brothers and continuing with Medeski Martin & Wood.
“People have asked me why not pursue just a jazz career,” he said. “One reason MMW was so eclectic was because I was disillusioned with the jazz world. For us, MMW was always a genre-bending band.”
Wood said he and his brother and Rix enjoy changing up arrangements even on earlier Wood Brothers songs. “In concert, we like to re-arrange and re-interpret our songs,” he said. “The songs are still recognizable, but with a new feel.”
Eclecticism does not always translate to marketability, but Wood is optimistic about his music. The Wood Brothers just built their own studio and are at work on a new record. A new Medeski Martin & Wood CD and documentary are also forthcoming.
“I’ve always been used to living in the cracks between genres,” said Chris Wood. “With the Wood Brothers, it was important for us to be true to ourselves. The idea is to get out and enjoy ourselves, and get other people to come along.”
IF YOU GO: THE WOOD BROTHERS
WHAT: Siblings Chris (guitar) and Oliver (upright bass) are joined by multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix to perform.
WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday, November 6
WHERE: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown
TICKETS: $29 to $59
INFORMATION: 973-539-8008 or mayoarts.org
